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老來少

简老来少 · 繁老來少

Mandarin · pinyin lǎo lái shào

old but young at heart

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Characters in this entry

老: lǎo · old, aged; experienced; Kangxi radical 125
來: lái · come, coming; return, returning
少: shǎo · few, less, inadequate
来: lái · come, coming; return, returning

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–2–4 · lao3 lai2 shao4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

老來少 · find source passages ↗ · 老来少 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

person who is old in age but young at heart
(Shanghainese) amaranth

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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